Marceline Tigers v Knox County Eagles

Wednesday

Aug 28, 2013 at 10:30 AM

The time for talk is over. The time to go full speed and really hit someone in another colored jersey is finally here. After a successful summer season of 7-on-7 championships and team-building activities, the Marceline Tigers will take Black Rage football to the field this Friday night.

Dustin Watson@LinnCoDustin

The time for talk is over. The time to go full speed and really hit someone in another colored jersey is finally here. After a successful summer season of 7-on-7 championships and team-building activities, the Marceline Tigers will take Black Rage football to the field this Friday night.

The Tigers open at Chester Ray Stadium against the Knox County Eagles in a non-conference battle. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

“We had a good practice and film study,” said Head Coach Paul Thomas. “We are ready to go for the regular season. Many times your biggest improvement as a team is between week one and week two. I am hopeful we have that kind of improvement between the jamboree and this week.

The Eagles are long-standing members of the Tri-Rivers Conference, and are no strangers to local football fans.

Last season, Knox County went 7-4 (3-2 in the TRC), and lost to Westran in the regional playoff round. The Eagles took third place in the Tri-Rivers one year ago.

Tigers fans can expect to see a Wing-T offense from Knox, with a lot of misdirection and a run-first attack. “They run a lot of no-huddle out of the Wing-T and some pistol,” said Coach Thomas. “We are going to have to be ready at all times defensively. They run the football really well. Their quarterback is really good, and can run and pass equally well.”

Defensively, the Eagles will attack Marceline's offense from the base 4-3 defense. Last season, Knox County allowed 20.8 points per game last season. “They run a Cover Two behind a 4-3,” said Coach Thomas. “This is different than they ran against us last year. They are going to be aggressive and have some size in the middle. We are going to have to block better than we did at the jamboree.”

In their last match-up, week one of last season at Edina, the Tigers won in a 35-0 blowout to start their campaign off on the right foot. Fans of Black Rage football will be hoping for a similar showing to thrill the home crowd this Friday night at Chester Ray Stadium.